Pokémon BW: A Master in the Making
by JoshWrites
Summary: This story follows the storyline of the Pokémon Black and White games, and the Black & White anime series. This is a re-write of the Black & White series' events, with a few changes.
1. Reuniting for Another Adventure!

_**Chapter 1**_

A few months had passed since the Sinnoh League Tournament and Ash's journey through the Sinnoh Region. After he Dawn and Brock went their separate ways that day, Ash spent most of his time at home helping his mother around the house along with her Mr. Mime, and training all his Pokémon at Professor Oak's Laboratory when he got a spare few hours during the day. He noticed a huge improvement in the strength of his Pokémon, but the days got lonely, he was so used to travelling that spending all his time doing the same thing at the same place got boring, especially when it was every day; he liked seeing new places and he wasn't getting that here. He decided that he wanted a change, but didn't know what to do. As he went home for the day, he thought back to his Sinnoh journey and remembered how much fun he had and how much he had grown stronger from travelling with Brock and Dawn. He had them to thank for him reaching the Top 4 of the league, after all.

That night Ash was in his room, polishing the gym badges from Sinnoh in his badge case while Pikachu was fast asleep on his bed. As he polished the last badge, he remembered the time he met the new Pokémon called Zorua when he was in Crown City, but he couldn't for the life of him recall where Karl told him it was from. After many failed attempts to remember, he picked up the phone and dialled a number. After a few rings, a soft feminine voice was heard.

"Hello? This is Dawn. My mother isn't home right now, can I take a message?" Dawn said, not knowing who was on the other end of the call.

"Hey Dawn, it's me, Ash! How've you been?" he said with excitement from hearing Dawn's voice again.

"Oh! Hey Ash!" she shouted down the phone when she found out it was Ash, "It's so great to speak to you again. I've been good, thanks, really busy though, I've hardly had any time to myself lately."

The conversation between Ash and Dawn lasted for quite a while, they had so much catching up to do after not speaking to one another for a few months. Ash asked her if she remembered Crown City, and the Zorua they met there. Dawn remembered their time in Crown City and reminded Ash that the region Zorua was from is called Unova. She also told him she heard that the region is said to be beautiful.

"So hey, I've decided that I'm going to start a new journey, and Unova sounds like the perfect place" Ash explained to her.

"Ash that's so cool! Do you mind if I join you on your journey? It'd be nice to get away from Sinnoh for a while now that Bunneary's modelling career is secure, and I'm sure my mother could always take her whenever she needs to another photo shoot, which shouldn't be any time soon." Dawn explained to Ash as she began to get excited about a potential new journey.

"Dawn, of course you can come! Pikachu and I would love for you to come with us", Ash said as he heard Dawn scream down the phone with excitement.

With Dawn invited on their journey, Ash informed her that they won't be leaving for another week so they have time to prepare before travelling to Unova. Dawn offered to make her own way to Unova and meet Ash and Pikachu there, but Ash told her that she could come to Kanto and stay for the week until they were going to leave for Unova, to which Dawn accepted.

"That sounds like a fantastic idea, Ash! I'll start packing and book a flight to Kanto for tomorrow morning! I can't wait to see you and Pikachu again!"

"Can't wait to see you too Dawn. I'm going to head to bed, talk to you tomorrow! Good night!"

"Good night Ash!" Dawn said as she put the phone down and began to pack and book her flight.

As the sun started to rise the following morning, Ash was already dressed and ready to go. Pikachu, who had been woken up by Ash's rushing around to get dressed, looked rather annoyed with Ash, but was soon just as excited once he was informed that they were going to meet Dawn in a couple of hours and jumped off the bed and on to Ash's shoulder before they made their way downstairs to eat breakfast and tell Ash's mother about their new upcoming journey to Unova.

The next few hours flew by and Ash and Pikachu stood waiting at the airport for Dawn's flight to arrive. After what seemed like half an hour, the two finally saw the blue-haired girl emerge from the distance as she ran towards them, waving with her right hand, while holding a rather large bag in the other.

"Hey Dawn! You know, we're not staying in Kanto forever. What's with the huge bag?" he asked her.

"Oh this?" she said as she held the bag, "this is just a new outfit I picked up from the Sinnoh airport" she paused, looking at Ash, "we ARE starting a new journey, after all." She said as she winked at him and smiled.

"Awesome, can I see?" he asked as he reached for the bag, but Dawn smacks his hand as he rapidly brings it back.

Dawn waved her index finger at Ash as she shook her head, "Nope! You will see it in a week." She said as she looked at Ash, who was still wearing the clothes he travelled through Sinnoh in. "Aren't you going to get a new outfit as well?" she said as they walked from the airport and back to Ash's house.

While heading home, Dawn was scratching Pikachu's ears, as Ash started thinking about what Dawn said, he didn't give his outfit much thought, it didn't seem important as he just wanted to start his journey as soon as possible. When they finally arrived at Ash's house, they were both surprised when Delia opened the door and was holding a large cardboard box with a bow on it.

"Oh man, you scared the life out of us!" Ash said while trying to catch his breath, and Dawn and Pikachu tried to do the same.

"I'm sorry dear, but I just this minute got everything finished for your new journey and came to find you right away to give you this!" Delia explained as she handed Ash the box.

As Ash opened the box, his face lit up at the sight of a set of new clothes. Dawn tried to look what was in the box, but Ash closed it quickly before she could see, which got a frustrated look from Dawn.

"You'll see it in a week!" he said as he gave her a cheeky smile, surprising Dawn before she started to smile as she got a taste of what she had done to him moments earlier.

Ash and Dawn entered the house as Delia went out shopping for supplies for the meal they were going to have later that evening. Ash and Dawn spent almost the entire afternoon talking about their memories from their Sinnoh journey, and also catching up on what they've been up to since they departed back in Twinleaf Town. Ash took Dawn to Professor Oak's Laboratory to see his other Pokémon, which completely amazed Dawn at the sight of the large amount that were owned by Ash in one place. As the sun started to set, Ash and Dawn headed back home to eat, while Delia set up the guest room for Dawn. After they were finished eating, they turned in for the night, excited that they were one day closer to the start of their brand new journey.

* * *

 **Phew! That's my first chapter finished for this new story. I hope you enjoy it, and it's interesting to be including Dawn in a story, not to mention writing a story based on the anime.**

 **Black & White (Best Wishes) wasn't all that great, and I know a lot of people didn't like the series much, which is why I decided to write this and make a few changes, while improving on parts that I found could have been better. Anyway, this is just the beginning, so stay tuned!**


	2. Setting Sail for a New Journey

**Chapter 2**

Over the course of the week that Dawn was staying in Kanto, Ash had never enjoyed being in Pallet Town more. His normal daily routine he had grown so used to over the last few months didn't feel nearly as dull and boring as he once thought. His training was a much more fun too because Dawn had helped out by acting as a training partner, and his Pokémon had never looked better. As the days went by, the week went by in the blink of an eye, and before they knew it, it was the last day before they left for Unova the following morning.

Ash and Dawn decided to spend their last day in Kanto visiting Brock in Pewter City. Dawn was particularly excited about visiting Pewter City as she never got the chance to visit the towns and cities of Kanto since Bunneary's modelling career prevented her from travelling to Kanto before now.

After spending most of the morning and afternoon with Brock while he was on a break from studying to become a Pokémon Doctor, Ash and Dawn decided to head back to Pallet Town to prepare for the following morning when they set off for Unova, stopping at a nearby shop to purchase some Poké Balls, potions and other supplies that would be handy for their journey before continuing their way back to Pallet Town.

"Come along you two, you've got an early start tomorrow. The ferry that will take you both to Unova will set off tomorrow morning at 9:00am, so you need to get your rest if you want to make it on time." Delia shouted to them as she saw them emerge from over the hill.

As Ash and Dawn arrived and stood in front of the house, Professor Oak approached them.

"Ash my boy. Dawn. I want to wish you both the best of luck on your journey. When you arrive in Unova, be sure to visit Professor Juniper's Laboratory in Nuvema Town.

"Right!" Ash and Dawn said simultaneously as they answered the professor.

That night, Ash was lying in bed silently, wide awake, thinking about how he was finally going on another journey. Pikachu was fast asleep next to him, whose tail kept twitching as he slept and said parts of his own name. The silence gave him time to think, and his mind immediately went back to the Sinnoh League battle against Tobias's Darkrai. That loss made him feel happy knowing he made it so far into the league, but also sad knowing if it hadn't of been for Tobias, then he would have won the whole Sinnoh League and would be lying here a Pokémon Master by now. As the memory took him back to that day, Ash had dropped to sleep in a matter of seconds.

Ash was woken by the loud ringing of his alarm clock. He would normally sleep in to around an hour before he needed to leave, but since it was a special occasion, he wanted to make sure he got everything ready before setting off for the ferry. Ash made sure not to disturb Pikachu, who slept as though the alarm hadn't even gone off, as he looked at the cardboard box his mother had given him before exiting his room and onto the hallway.

"Good morning Ash!" Dawn said to him as she left the guest room. She was wearing her new outfit. Her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt, a black skirt, black knee-high boots and a light blue waistcoat that tied her entire outfit together. She was wearing a new pink and white cap with a small pink Poké Ball pattern on the front with her long blue hair down, and had her Sinnoh Backpack in her hand.

"Good morning Dawn!" he said back as he saw her new outfit, "Hey, your new outfit looks amazing. It really suits you."

"Aw, thank you Ash" she said as she smiled and blushed slightly from the compliment she had been given and headed downstairs.

"Good morning Dawn" Ash faintly heard from downstairs as Professor Oak and Delia talked to Dawn.

Having decided against going downstairs right now, and turned around to enter his room once more.

Dawn had entered the kitchen to help Delia with getting breakfast ready, while Professor Oak was in the living room drinking his coffee. Moments later, Ash came down and entered the kitchen wearing his new outfit. Ash was now wearing a red and white cap with a black Poké Ball pattern on the front, a short-sleeved blue and black two tone hoodie with a white under shirt and black baggy jeans that were tucked into dark red high top sneakers. He also had his Sinnoh backpack with him. His appearance caught the attention of Ash's mother and Dawn, as well as Professor Oak who had just entered the kitchen.

"Oh Ash, you look absolutely fantastic!" Dawn commented, which caused Ash to laugh nervously and scratch the back of his head.

"She's right dear. What a handsome young man you're growing up to be." Delia said, agreeing with Dawn's compliment.

Ash thanked them both for their kind words as everyone sat down at the table to eat their breakfast.

"So are you both ready to start your journey?" Professor Oak asked them both.

"Of course!" Ash said proudly with his mouth full of toast.

"Well…not really. There is one thing I need to do first, and I was hoping you could help, professor." Dawn said.

"Ask away Dawn. What can I help you with?" Professor Oak said to her.

As Dawn explained that she wanted to leave her Pokémon except from Piplup with Professor Oak at his lab so they could spend time with the other Pokémon, Professor Oak was happy to allow her Pokémon to stay at his lab.

"Oh, but we'll need to set off for the ferry right away as it leaves in an hour. I can drop your Pokémon off at my lab on our way back." Professor Oak said as he offered to give them a ride to Vermillion City to catch the ferry.

After Ash and Dawn picked up their backpacks and hats, they joined Professor Oak and Delia in the car as they drive off for Vermillion City, which only took around 30 minutes, Ash and Dawn left the car and were handed tickets to board the ferry. After saying good bye to Professor Oak and Delia, Dawn handed her Poké Balls over to Professor Oak as they both headed to the ferry.

The ferry journey, while it lasted a couple of hours, to Ash and Dawn, it went by so quickly. They took full advantage of what there was to do on the ferry, such as the large swimming pool, which both Pikachu and Piplup loved. As the ferry docked in Unova, Ash and Dawn headed to the exit, both were so excited to take their first steps in the new region.

"I can't believe we're finally here Dawn!" Ash shouted as he rushed off the ferry and onto the ground and he raced up the port.

"Slow down Ash!" she shouted, chasing after him, "Wait for me!" she shouted again, calling his name.

When Dawn finally caught up to Ash, she saw him talking to a woman wearing a lab coat.

"And you must be Dawn, I assume?" the woman asked Dawn.

"Uh…um, yes…?" Dawn said nervously, "how do you know my name?"

"My name is Professor Juniper, I'm a researcher here in Unova. Professor Oak instructed me to come and collect you once you arrived in the Unova Region. Please, allow me to take you to my laboratory." Professor Juniper told them as she escorted them to her car.

During the drive to the Laboratory in Nuvema Town, Ash and Dawn were amazed at the new Pokémon they were seeing. They hadn't seen any of the Pokémon before, which got them more excited about getting to the laboratory as soon as they could. As they arrived at the lab and Professor Juniper parked the car, Ash saw a young boy enter the lab, to which he told Professor Juniper.

"Oh, it must be time already. The new trainer we've been expecting today has arrived to choose his starter Pokémon." The professor told them as she entered the laboratory herself, causing Ash and Dawn to rush in after her.

Once inside the building, they saw the boy from before standing in the middle of the reception area. They were surprised at the fact that he was taking photographs.

"Hey, how come you're taking photographs of this place?" Ash asked the boy.

"None of your business kid." He replied coldly to Ash's question before looking at Professor Juniper. His expression changed to a warm smile.

"Hello there, you must be Trip. You've come to choose your starter Pokémon, am I correct?" she asked the boy.

"That's right, professor!" the boy said, almost professionally, as though to show is dedication.

Professor Juniper made her way over to the small table that one of her assistants had brought out for her, which had three enlarged Poké Balls, a Pokédex and a small box containing 5 smaller Poké Balls. She asked Ash and Dawn if they could help her by each picking one of the larger Poké Balls and releasing the Pokémon that were inside. Once all three Pokémon were released, Trip had began choosing between the Grass-type Snivy, the Water-type Oshawott or the Fire-type Tepig.

"Take your time, Trip. You don't want to rush these things since you'll be…" Professor Juniper said before she was cut off by Trip.

"I've decided." Trip said as he took a photograph of all three starter Pokémon together, "I'm choosing Snivy."

As Professor Juniper gave Trip the items on the table that would assist him on his journey, Trip looked at Ash and smirked sarcastically, which got Ash annoyed as he attempted to confront Trip, only to be stopped by Dawn putting her hand on his shoulder. Once Trip had been given the items, Professor Juniper wished him luck on his journey as he bowed to her before making his way to Ash and Dawn.

"And who exactly are you two?" Trip said with a blank expression on his face.

"I'm Dawn, I'm from Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh. This is Ash, he's from Pallet Town in Kanto." Dawn said in response to his question.

Trip just stood there, the blank expression he showed before soon became another sarcastic smirk.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Ash asked Trip.

"You." He simply said. "I thought someone like you would come from a mediocre place like Kanto."

This comment got Ash annoyed with Trip, just as Pikachu came running over and jumping on his shoulder to try and calm him down. Trip was amazed by Pikachu and looked him up in the Pokédex, taking some photographs of him too.

"Alright then, you can prove that I'm wrong by beating me in a battle." Trip said out of the blue. "Your Pikachu against my Snivy." He added, holding the Poké Ball in his hand.

Ash just remained still, not knowing whether to accept his challenge or not.

"I'll be waiting on the battle field around back." Trip said as he left the lab.

* * *

 **So Ash and Dawn meet Trip. He seems a little confident in his abilities even though he's only been a trainer for a short while. What will Ash do? Will he battle him knowing he's a beginner trainer, or will be allow Trip to think poorly of trainers from Kanto if he refuses? Chapter 3 is coming your way soon.**

 **Thor93 -** **I don't think you're going to be disappointed there. However, this doesn't mean that Pikachu will be invincible, he will still lose a fair amount of battles because it wouldn't be fair to have Ash destroy the gym leaders with just Pikachu, and I want to make the story will give development to all his new Pokémon, not just making Pikachu look better.**


	3. A New Rival & New Friends!

_**Chapter 3**_

Not long after Trip had left the laboratory, Dawn turned to Ash, concerned about what he was going to do.

"I honestly don't know Dawn. Pikachu might be too strong for Trip's Snivy to handle if we battle him. But if I don't battle him, it will just make Trip think he's right about people from Kanto. I can't let that happen." Ash explained.

"Okay! You go and meet Trip, I'll be right back!" she said as she disappeared into a room in the back of the lab.

Ash and Pikachu looked confused, but went ahead to meet Trip. "Come on Piplup, Dawn will meet us outside." He said to Piplup as he offered his other shoulder, to which he happily jumped onto Ash's shoulder as they made their way to the battle field.

Upon arriving, Ash saw Trip tapping his foot and looking at his watch, impatiently waiting for Ash. As Piplup and Pikachu left Ash's shoulder as Piplup ran to the side-lines.

"So where's your friend? Did she not want to see you lose?" Trip shouted from across the battle field.

"Man, what a mouth on that guy" Ash muttered under his breath. "Let's begin the battle, Trip!"

Trip agreed and threw the Poké Ball containing Snivy as Ash told Pikachu to go on the battle field. A second later, Dawn's voice was heard as she called out to them not to start the battle. As she emerged from the trees, Dawn was dressed in her pink cheerleader outfit and stood on the side-lines next to Piplup.

"Come on Ash, do it right, you can beat him, fight, fight, fight!" Dawn cheered to Ash.

This got a confused look from Trip, who wasn't sure what was going on, but Ash thanked Dawn for her support and got ready to begin the battle.

"Since this is your first battle, I'll let you make the first call, Trip!"

Trip took advantage of his words and ordered Snivy to run and use Tackle on Pikachu, secretly hoping that it would knock Pikachu in one move and embarrass Ash.

"Pikachu, charge in with Quick Attack!" Ash shouted, watching as Pikachu swiftly ran across the battle field.

As Pikachu got closer to Snivy, Ash made another command, "Jump and avoid it Pikachu!" and Pikachu jumped, supported by the speed of Quick Attack.

Before Trip could make another command, Ash ordered Pikachu to use the speed from the fall down by spinning forward and then go into Iron Tail. As he gained more speed by spinning, Pikachu's tail started to glow, and in one single hit, slammed Snivy hard into the ground, knocked it out.

Trip watched in horror as he witnessed Pikachu's impressive power first hand.

"Not bad for someone from a Kanto huh?" Dawn taunted Trip for his earlier comment.

"Your cheerleader distracted me" he said trying to make an excuse for his loss as he took a picture of Ash and Pikachu, "I want to remember the frustration I felt from this battle." He added as he recalled Snivy and stormed off to begin his journey.

Dawn and Piplup raced towards Ash as Dawn knelt down to Pikachu to pat him on the head, "forget about him Ash, you and Pikachu did an amazing job"

"Thanks Dawn, we couldn't have done it without you" he told her, "We should head back to the lab to get ready for our journey.

Back at the lab, Professor Juniper and her assistants were having a hard time with the Oshawott and Tepig that weren't chosen by Trip; neither would go back into their Poké Balls. Ash and Dawn arrived and asked the distressed professor what was wrong.

"You see, this is the fifth time we have had these Pokémon offered to new trainers, but each time, Snivy is always chosen and they seem a little down." Professor Juniper explained.

"Aw, how could anyone turn down this little cutie?" Dawn said as she knelt down to Tepig and picked it up, which made Tepig happy.

"Right? And this little guy looks super tough, not to mention cute" Ash said as he put his hand on Oshawott's head while Pikachu jumped down to say hello.

The mood of both Pokémon seemed to change almost immediately, they were no longer upset thanks to Ash and Dawn's compliments.

"Spectacular! Just a moment ago, they were both feeling so down, but you two raised their spirits in no time at all!" Professor Juniper commented, "How would you both feel if I asked you to take care of those Pokémon? They really seem to like you a lot"

"We'd love to!" Ash and Dawn said at the same time, laughing at the fact that they were doing that quite a lot.

As Professor Juniper handed them the Poké Balls for the Pokémon, she also handed them a Pokédex and five Poké Balls too, to which they both recalled their new Pokémon. Afterwards, Professor Juniper gave Ash a badge case for when he challenged the Unova gym leaders.

"Thank you for everything professor, we can't thank you enough." Ash said in appreciation, "We've got to get going now, ready Dawn…uh, Dawn?" Ash said as he looked around for Dawn, who had disappeared.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Dawn shouted as she emerged from around the corner, rushing to put her backpack on. "I needed to go and get changed out of my cheerleader outfit before we left"

"No need to worry, let's go" Ash said to Dawn as they both waved to Professor Juniper and left the lab.

As Ash and Dawn began their journey, they encountered many new Pokémon, they learned more about Patrat, Purloin and even Lillipup along the way by using their new Pokédexes. Eventually making it to a town called Accumula Town, they decided to stop by at the Pokémon Centre to have Pikachu checked out from his battle against Trip's Snivy. Once Pikachu had been checked out, they found out that there is a Pokémon Gym in Striaton City, which got Ash fired up for a chance to win his first Unova gym badge.

Continuing on their journey, Ash and Dawn encountered a large flock of pigeons-looking Pokémon. Ash decided to scan one using his Pokédex and learning it was called Pidove, he decided he wanted to capture one. He thought Pikachu might be a bit too tough for a wild Pokemon, so he decided to give Oshawott a go.

"Oshawott, let's go!" Ash shouted as he threw the Poké Ball and Oshawott appeared from it.

"Osha, wotta!" the Sea Otter Pokémon said as it stood before Ash.

"Oshawott, I really want to catch one of those Pidove over there, you want to help me out?" he asked the Pokemon.

Proudly placing one of its hands on the scalchop on its stomach as a sign it was going to help, Ash called out his first attack.

"Oshawott, use Water Gun on the Pidove on the right!"

As Oshawott hit the Pidove with Water Gun, Ash thought it would be weak enough to catch, but soon realised how wrong he was when the wild Pidove returned an equally powerful Air Cutter, followed by a speedy Quick Attack. Oshawott took a lot of damage from two attacks in a row and Ash knew he needed to wrap the battle up and capture Pidove before Oshawott got knocked out.

"Oshawott, Water Gun again!" Ash shouted.

"Osha!" the Pokémon shouted as it fired another Water Gun.

"That's it! Now Tackle!" Ash commanded as Oshawott charged towards Pidove, knocking hard into the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon.

"Okay, now's the time! Go Poké Ball!" Ash shouted as he threw the Poké Ball and Pidove went inside.

After four shakes, the Poké Ball stopped and Pidove was caught, to which Oshawott ran over and picked up the Poké Ball to bring back to Ash, who held the Poké Ball as Pikachu and Oshawott ran over and jumped to hug him, congratulating him on the capture.

"Thanks a lot you guys, but hey, where's Dawn gone?" Ash said, looking around for Dawn.

"Hey Ash, you wouldn't believe it! You know that deer Pokémon we saw yesterday? I just found one!" Dawn shouted, "Come quick before it gets away!"

Ash, Pikachu and Oshawott ran over to the sound of Dawn's voice as they saw her waving before running behind a bush, pointing in the direction of the deer Pokémon, who was drinking from a small pond. Dawn decided to scan it with her Pokédex so she knew more about it as Ash, Pikachu and Oshawott joined her to watch.

" **Deerling, the Season Pokémon. With the change of each season, Deerling's appearance changes as well.** "

"So Deerling has four different forms, and this one must be a Spring Form. I just love its pink colouring!" explained Dawn, "I think I'm going to catch it! Tepig! Let's go!" Dawn whispered as she released Tepig from its Poké Ball.

"Tepig!" the Fire Pig Pokémon said as it blew embers from its snout.

"Tepig, I want to catch that Deerling, so please help me out and use Ember!" Dawn commanded as Tepig jumped over the bush and sent an Ember attack at Deerling, shocking it as the super-effective move collided.

"Deer!" the Season Pokémon shouted as it ran to Tepig, hitting it hard with a Double Kick attack.

"Tepig!" gasped Dawn, "Are you okay?" she called out in concern.

"Pig! Tepig!" it shouted as it blew more embers from its snout, not wanting to give up that easily.

"Awesome! Use Ember again!"

As Tepig used Ember again, Deerling was hit with much more damage than before, which seemed like it did the trick.

"That should be enough! Let's go, Poké Ball!" Dawn shouted as she threw an empty Poké Ball at Deerling, and after the Poké Ball shook four times, Deerling was caught. Dawn ran over to the Poké Ball on the ground and picked it up as well as Tepig as she held the Pokémon up in the air as she thanked it, to which Tepig said parts of its own name as it smiled, feeling proud of itself.

"Congratulations Dawn! I'm sure you and Deerling will make an awesome team!" Ash commented.

"Thanks Ash, so when are you going to catch a Unova Pokémon?" Dawn asked.

"Already did. I guess you went after Deerling before I caught Pidove" he explained as he released Pidove from its Poké Ball. The Tiny Pigeon Pokémon flapped around in mid-air as Dawn looked at how cute Ash's new Pokémon was.

With Ash and Dawn each obtaining a new Unova Pokémon, the two decided to make their way to Striaton City and Ash's first Unova gym battle.

* * *

 **I realise that I went a bit overboard making this a bit of a longer chapter than the previous two, but I wanted Ash and Dawn to arrive in Striaton City in the next chapter. Ash beat Trip a lot easier than in the episode, though, and he didn't even need to use any Electric-type moves. Also, please let me know, since I have a tendency to make what I write...well, rather long, would you prefer it if I skipped certain captures/gym leaders/cities/towns, while still referencing them so that the story is still progressing, but doesn't take the story's length to around 100 chapters, since I know it would be painful to read, as well as painful to write.**

 **True Master - I do want to give Ash a fairly different team than he had in Unova, so one of those Pokémon could very well be captured by him.**

 **Martyn - The Sunglasses Sandile/Krokorok (and then Krookodile) was a very strong Pokémon, and he does now have two members of his team that are weak to Electric, so Sandile/Krokorok (I haven't decided if I want him to catch it as Sandile or Krokorok yet) would be very useful for Ash, especially in his battle against Elesa. However, despite this, I haven't made a final decision about whether or not it will become an actual part of Ash's team.**


	4. Cilan of Striaton!

**Before we start, I would like to apologise for taking so long to get this chapter finished, I've been really busy lately and haven't had much time to sit down and write. Chapters will be added sooner instead of having a huge gap in between the release of them, so don't worry there. Also, I've decided that certain events in the anime/games (i.e. certain routes, gym battles and captures) will be mentioned briefly, but not written in great detail as it could potentially make the story extremely long and it could soon get boring for you to read, and harder for me to write. Thank you for your patience, now let's get into the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4**_

After what felt like two days of constant walking, Ash, Dawn and Pikachu were happy to see that they had finally made it to Striaton City, home to the Striaton City Gym, and where Ash's first Unova gym badge could be won. Dawn being Dawn wanted to check out the city more, so Ash decided he would meet her at the Pokémon Centre, to which Dawn agreed and raced off in the opposite direction.

"That Dawn, always fascinated by a pretty place, huh?" Ash said to Pikachu as they watched the blue-haired girl rushing down the streets, Pikachu responded with a small smile as they began to make their way to the Pokémon Centre.

Once Ash's Pokémon were fully healed, Ash decided he and Pikachu would try to find Dawn, only to be met by her when he turned a corner, causing Ash and Pikachu to jump in surprise.

"Hey guys! Did I scare you?" Dawn said after she watched Ash and Pikachu practically jump out of their own skins.

"Who us? Are you kidding? It'll take a lot more than that to scare us, Dawn. Give us some credit would ya?" Ash spoke out as he tried to catch his breath, with Pikachu panting too.

"Well that's good. For a moment there I thought you were both going to scream. Silly me." she teased Ash as she reached into a small bag "Hey, I've got a little present for you, Ash" she added as handed Ash a small package.

As Ash opened the small package, he found a small blue and yellow box, "Hey, a Town Map!" he said as he looked back at Dawn.

"I figured that since Brock is no longer with us, we would need to navigate ourselves around the region, and I thought you would have a better time using it than me, so there you go," Dawn told Ash as she smiled, waiting for his reaction to the gift she had given him.

"Thank you so much Dawn, this is perfect! You're the best!" he said as he gave her a warm smile, causing her blush with appreciation.

Ash asked Dawn if she would like to look at more of the city before they went to the gym, to which Dawn accepted. There were huge buildings and multiple shops, the latter making Dawn completely crazy and causing Ash to rush in and drag her out before she made any unnecessary purhases. A few hours went by and Ash was finally ready to challenge the first gym for his first Unova gym badge.

Approaching a large fancy building with a Poké Ball symbol on the front above the doorway, Ash and Dawn thought that it must be the place, but were quickly disappointed when they found themselves standing inside a restaurant. As Ash looked around, he came across a smartly dressed man who had finished taking the order of a couple at a table.

"Uh, excuse me" Ash asked the waiter, "I thought this was the Striaton Gym?"

"Oh it is, sir. The Striaton Gym is certainly where you are…" he said slowly as he started walking away.

"Weird guy…" Ash said, confused at the situation.

Just as Ash was about to go find Dawn, she made her way around the multiple tables around the restaurant, accompanied by a taller guy with green hair.

"Ash! This guy says he's the Striaton City Gym Leader…uh…well, one of them at least. He asked which starter you chose, so I just told him you have an Oshawott, but I don't get why that's so important" Dawn explained as Ash looked at the guy with a serious and determined look on his face.

"So you must be the one who's challenging the gym then? I'm Cilan, it would be my pleasure to battle you. Please follow me to the battle field, sir." Cilan said as he walked off to one of the walls at the back of the gym.

When Ash and Dawn had caught up to Cilan, they watched as the wall began to open up in front of him and an entirely new room become visible behind it. Heading onto the battle field, Ash got into position at his side as Cilan did the same on his, leaving Dawn to rush over to the sidelines and sit on a bench to watch the battle. The referee got into his position as well as many of the customers from the restaurant arrived to watch the battle after their meal.

"Attention everyone, the Striaton City gym battle will now get underway! To my left is Ash the challenger, and to my right, Cilan the leader of the Striaton City Gym!" the referee shouted as the crowd went wild from this. "You will each have the use of one Pokémon, and the battle will be over when either side's Pokémon is unable to continue. Are these rules understood?" he added, receiving a nod from both sides.

Both Cilan and Ash threw their Poké Balls into the battle field, releasing their Pokémon. As Ash released Oshawott, Cilan sent out a small green monkey Pokémon.

"Who's that Pokémon?" Ash asked himself as he took out his Pokédex to look up the new Pokémon.

 _ **Pansage, the Grass Monkey Pokémon. Pansage offers leaves on its head to Pokémon that have low energy. The leaves relieve stress.**_

"So Pansage is a Grass-type Pokémon, huh?" Ash said, "That's not good for Oshawott, who's a Water-type. We're going to have to be really careful here."

"And now! Battle begin!" the referee shouted.

The battle began, leading Ash and Cilan to quickly command attacks to their Pokémon. Both trying hard to get the upper hand on their opponent. Attack after attack was sent towards the Pokémon, but neither side was giving in any time soon; both Pokémon were exhausted, but refused to give up.

"We're going to need to wrap this up quick, Oshawott'll be done for Pansage manages to land another Grass-type attack." Ash thought to himself.

As Cilan finished pulling at his bow tie, he snapped his fingers and ordered Pansage to charge up Solar Beam, obviously wanting to finish the battle right here and now. Ash, knowing that Oshawott wouldn't be able to take Solar Beam well at this point, he ordered Oshawott to charge in and use Razor Shell, knowing that Solar Beam would take a while to charge.

"Keep running Oshawott! You can do it!" Ash shouted as he encouraged the Sea Otter Pokémon.

"I admire your battling spirit, but it's time for a sweet ending. Fire the Solar Beam now Pansage!" Cilan called out.

Oshawott continued running as the beam of bright light headed straight for him, making him nervous, but Ash reassured him and ordered him to keep going and hold out the scalchop in front of him as a defence. Doing as Ash said, Oshawott was successful and deflected the move, gaining enough speed to charge straight towards Pansage and strike with a powerful Razor Shell, finishing off Pansage.

"Oshawott has defeated Pansage, so Ash the challenger is the winner!" the referee shouted, announcing Ash as the winner.

Oshawott ran over to Ash, jumping up and down from excitement of the victory as Dawn ran over to Ash and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Congratulations Ash! I'm so happy for you!" she said as she smiled at him, receiving a warm smile back as Ash put his hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks Dawn!" Ash replied.

Cilan approached them as he held something in his fist. As he held his hand up, he opened his fist, revealing a gym badge on his palm, to which Ash took it with honour.

"Thanks a lot, Cilan! The battle was amazing!" Ash said as he showed Dawn, Pikachu and Oshawott the gym badge.

"I would really like to ask you some questions about how you battle, Ash. I'm sure listening to you would help me grow as a gym leader, and most importantly, a trainer." Cilan explained, to which Ash was more than happy to answer any questions he might have had.

Cilan, Ash and Dawn made their way to the Pokémon Centre so that Ash and Cilan could get their Pokémon healed, and also have their talk. Cilan asked Ash multiple questions about how he battled the way he did and how he managed to win even though he could be at a type disadvantage, to which Ash explained, much to Cilan's enjoyment.

"Wow!" Cilan said in amazement, "It all makes so much sense now, going on a journey certainly does allow one to improve one's self as a trainer. I envy those who are able to travel to new places and discover new things with their Pokémon as they grow stronger together." Cilan said, almost sounding a bit sad.

"You've never been on a journey before, have you Cilan?" Dawn asked sympathetically as Cilan shook his head.

Ash looked at Dawn and nodded while smiling, knowing what she was about to ask even before she said it.

"Cilan, you're more than welcome to join us on our journey, we've only just got started so there's bound to be plenty more places to see. That sound good?" she asked him.

Cilan could hardly contain his excitement, which completely shocked Dawn and scared Ash for the second time today. After Ash and Cilan received their fully healed Pokémon, Ash and Dawn arranged to stay at the Pokémon Centre tonight as Cilan said that he would meet them in the morning before they left, to which Ash and Dawn agreed as they waved to Cilan who left for the night.

* * *

 **I wanted to keep Cilan from the anime in the story as I sort of liked his character and thought he could have some additional** **Pokémon** **to his team that could reflect his personality too. I don't think he'll have a legendary though as I have something planned there.**

 **Also, I've addressed this at the beginning of this chapter, but I want to know your thoughts on the fact that I've decided to focus less on certain events so that the story doesn't become too long or span over 100+ chapters as you would most likely get bored with that, but still, please let me know so I know your views on it and I can make the reading experience for you more enjoyable.**

 **Chapter 5 is coming your way soon! Stay tuned!**


	5. The Moment of Evolution

**I've made this a little bit of a longer chapter so that more can be covered/introduced. Think of it like one of the hour-long special episodes of Pokémon. Reviews are greatly appreciated as they give me your thoughts on the story and I really appreciate your feedback, I also mention some reviews at the end of a chapter and sometimes reveal information regarding the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

As the morning sun peaked through the curtains of Ash's room, Ash and Pikachu were fast asleep, snoring loudly. The Pokémon Centre was quiet this early in the morning, so quiet in fact that a door opening and closing could be heard a few seconds later. Just then there was a light knock on Ash's door before it opened and an arm emerged to flick the light switch.

"Good morning sleepy head" Dawn said to Ash in a soft tone as she crouched next to his bed and looked at him.

Slowly opening his eyes, Ash looked up at Dawn, "Ah, morning Dawn. What time is it?" Ash said slowly, still waking.

"7:30AM, which means it's time we got ready before we need to meet Cilan. I'm going for a shower and then get dressed, so I'll meet you in the reception area in about 20 minutes…" Dawn said as she exited the room, but popped her head around the door, "oh, better make that 30, my hair isn't going to sort itself you know." She said as she winked at Ash before leaving.

"Guess that's Piplup's cue to have Bubble Beam at the ready, huh?" Ash said to Pikachu as he stood up from the bed. "Well, better get ready ourselves, what do you think?" he turned to Pikachu, who gave him a nod in response before jumping on his trainer's shoulder. "We should grab some breakfast too, I'm starving!" he said as Pikachu's stomach started to growl too, making him scratch his head in embarrassment while smiling.

Having slept in his jeans and t-shirt, Ash was almost ready to leave, all he needed to do was put his hoodie and hightops on. Finishing up, Ash grabbed his backpack and exited the room with Pikachu following behind. As Ash made his way to the reception area to wait for Dawn, he saw Cilan sitting at a desk. Ash noticed Cilan wasn't wearing the same clothes as the day before, he was no longer dressed in a formal style, and instead wore a white hoodie with a green under shirt, dark blue jeans and black sneakers. He also had a black backpack with many pockets on the floor next to his seat.

"Hey Cilan, you're here early. Dawn's still getting ready so we'll be waiting for quite a while until we leave" he said jokingly, which made Cilan laugh slightly.

"That's fine with me Ash. I just wanted to say again how thankful I am that you are both allowing me to join you on your journey, it's a real honour." He told Ash.

"Please, there's really no need to thank us" Ash assured him, "When it comes to travelling, the more the merrier I always say! Besides, you're a cool and smart guy, so we'll have a great time travelling together!"

After sitting around talking for around 10 minutes, Dawn finally arrived in the reception area. Seeing her, both Ash and Cilan stood up to greet her.

"Hey guys, you ready to leave? I did some research last night and noticed that Nacrene City is the next place with a gym" she told the two as she stood looking at them, also noticing Cilan's new outfit, "Hey Cilan, nice outfit." Dawn said before she headed to the front door, causing Ash and Cilan to pick up their backpacks and catch up to her.

Leaving Striaton City and arriving on Route 3, Ash, Pikachu, Dawn and Cilan took a deep breath in, smelling the fresh air feeling a warm breeze blow across their faces. After walking in silence for a little over 20 minutes, Ash decided to start a conversation with Cilan in order to find out more about him.

"So Cilan, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but is Pansage your only Pokémon, or do you have others?" Ash asked Cilan as they walked down the path.

Cilan stopped walking to look at Ash and smiled a little before taking out a Poké Ball from his hoodie pocket, "Of course I do Ash, come on out, Snivy!" he said as he held the Poké Ball away from him, which opened and formed a flash of light, releasing a Snivy.

"Cool! You've got a Snivy too, Cilan!" Ash said in amazement.

"Yeah, but she wasn't originally mine. You see, I found Snivy outside the Striaton Gym one day. I tried to look for her trainer, but I soon learned that Snivy left her trainer. After she watched me battling as a gym leader, she eventually decided she wanted me to capture her." Cilan explained. "I never used her in battle

As the group continued their way through Route 3 to Nacrene City, Cilan continued to explain the situation regarding Snivy.

* * *

In an abandoned warehouse in Nacrene City, Jessie, James and Meowth stood communicating with Giovanni back at Team Rocket Head Quarters via computer screen.

"We've arrived at Nacrene City right on schedule, sir!" Jessie, James and Meowth said.

"Very good." Giovanni said. "We already have one of our agents working at the Dreamyard and is collecting energy as we speak. Your mission however is to retrieve the Meteonite from inside the Nacrene Museum and switch it out with the fake Meteonite we've supplied you with. It is important that you wait until night fall before attempting this mission. Once you have retrieved it and made the switch, get in contact and I'll explain the next stage. That is all." Giovanni added before the screen went black.

"He's right you know, too many eyes on us during the day would raise suspicion and make the mission harder to complete, not to mention increasing the chances of us making mistakes." James mentioned.

"True." Jessie said, "We'll also have an easier time going undetected with these new black uniforms. We'll blend right into the shadows."

The trio began unpacking their equipment and started working on their plan for the the break-in to the museum they would put into action later that evening.

* * *

Once Ash, Pikachu and Dawn had finished learning about Cilan's Snivy's past, they noticed that Nacrene City was close. Pikachu's ears soon pricked up at the sound of a scream that echoed, to which he pulled on Ash's ears so that it was brought to Ash's attention that he heard something.

"Hey, what's up Pikachu? My ears aren't for pulling…" Ash said in discomfort.

"Pika Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted as he jumped from Ash's shoulder and ran off in the direction of the sound he had heard.

"Come on guys, we should go too!" Ash told the two before rushing after Pikachu

"Right!" Dawn and Cilan shouted, following Ash.

Once they had reached an open area with a cave, they saw a young boy and girl and a dog Pokémon standing in front of them, growling and a group of people wearing grey armour who were moving closer and closer to the two, getting the Pokémon more angry and causing it to growl louder, showing off its sharp teeth and locking its eyes on the group. Dawn decided to use her Pokédex.

 **Herdier, the Loyal Dog Pokémon, and the evolved form of Lillipup. Herdier's hard black fur softens its opponent's attacks like armor.**

"It looks like Herdier could use some help! Let's go, Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he charged over to help. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Leave them alone now!"

"Let's see how this Pokémon we stole from a weak trainer does." One of the men muttered as he turned to look at Ash, "We do not take too kindly to a kid telling us what to do. Not that we would listen anyway, SO STAY OUT OF THIS!" he shouted as he threw a Poké Ball, releasing a small brown Pokémon.

"No time to use the Pokédex…" Ash said, "Oshawott, I choose you!" he added as he threw Oshawott's Poké Ball, releasing the Sea Otter Pokémon.

"You dare stand in our way! We will not allow a child to interfere with our plans! Patrat, use Tackle now!"

"Oshawott, dodge it and then use Water Gun!" Ash commanded.

As the battle between Oshawott and Patrat went on, the man commanded Patrat to use Bide, but little did Ash know of the consequences of attacking a Pokémon using Bide. Ash ordered attack after attack onto Patrat and thought he was going to win, but Oshawott was then hit by the blinding and powerful Bide attack that had been storing up power from the multiple attacks it took, causing Oshawott to be sent flying into a nearby tree and making him cry out in pain.

"OSHAWOTT!" Ash shouted at the top of his voice as he witnessed Oshawott in pain.

Rushing over to retrieve his injured Pokémon, Ash saw that Oshawott was starting to glow a blue colour, which covered his entire body as he started to stand. Shouting his name which echoed through the Route, Oshawott started to grow taller, his arms got longer and once the bright blue light had faded, he now had two scalchops on his hips.

"Dew Dewott!"

"Oshwott…evolved? He evolved!" Ash said as he was excited by what had happened. Ash scanned Dewott with his Pokédex to find out more about his new Pokémon.

 **Dewott, the Discipline Pokémon, and the evolved form of** **Oshawott** **. Through rigid training, Dewott uses the double-** **scalchop** **technique to accomplish its fluid swordsmanship.**

"Awesome! And he's learned a new move!" Ash said, "Dewott, use Fury Cutter!" he commanded the new move.

As Dewott removed the two scalchops from his hips, they started to glow green and Dewott charged towards Patrat and instantly disappeared, but reappeared right in front of Patrat before he performed the double attack, knocking Patrat out and forcing its trainer to recall it.

"Team, retreat! We have no need to remain here." He announced, but turned to Ash again, "You have not heard the last of us. This is just the beginning." He added before he and his team threw down smoke bombs and disappeared.

"Just who were those guys anyway?" Ash said as he turned to look to Cilan and Dawn, who shrugged their shoulders.

"Forget them, Ash" Dawn told him, "Besides, you helped rescue those two over there, and Oshawott evolved. I'd say that's more important than those bunch of weirdos."

As Ash agreed, he went to check on the two kids who had been threatened by the strange men. Relieved they were alright, Ash, Pikachu, Dawn and Cilan continued their way to Nacrene City.

"I'd say we should be in Nacrene City in a little under an hour. It'll be dark soon, so we should get a room at the Pokémon Centre." Cilan mentioned as Ash and Dawn agreed it was a good plan.

* * *

"Alright, we're almost ready. In just a few hours, that Meteonite will be ours for the taking." Jessie commented as she tightened her fist, looking over the plan the trio had made.

"Careful Jessie, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. We should plan right down to the final detail to ensure we don't encounter any unforeseen mistakes." James said. "Meowth, you will be in charge of accessing the glass case and retrieving the Meteonite. Jessie, your job is to secure the Meteonite. Myself, I will allow you both access to the Museum and also removing the security system that's protecting the case." James added as he dished out the roles for the mission.

"Roger that!" Meowth said. "The Meteonite will soon be ours."

* * *

 **Yeah, I wanted to write the focus on the Meteonite into the story. I thought it gave Team Rocket a lot of development in terms of their new skills and gave them another meaning for being in the anime other than just following Ash for Pikachu. I'm also liking the jump from Ash's journey to the missions of Team Rocket. I hope you're also enjoying the story so far.**

 **Chapter 6 is coming soon, so stay tuned!**

 **Werewingwolfxx – That was one of the hopes I had for the Unova saga, I hoped that Ash would bring his older** **Pokémon for the league, and was quite disappointed when he didn't. Although, I suppose Charizard made up for it, even though it wasn't at the league. I do plan to make his team consist of his older ones as well when it comes to the league.**


	6. Nacrene Museum! Target: Meteonite!

**Chapter 6**

Ash and his friends had finally arrived in Nacrene City. Cilan was right, they had just made it to the city and it was already starting to get dark. As the group made their way to the Pokémon Centre to book a room for the night, there was shadow lurking in the side street.

"It's the Twerps! What are they doing here?!" Jessie questioned as she noticed the presence of Ash and his friends.

She ran over to a parked van, entering from the back to inform James and Meowth of the situation.

"Doesn't matter. Pikachu is no longer our concern. Our only objective right now is to enter the Museum and retrieve the Meteonite." James told her. "We'll be moving in shortly. We need to make sure that the Museum is completely empty first."

After 10 minutes of waiting, nobody was seen going in or coming out of the Museum, so James made a judgement that the Museum was empty. Driving the van around the streets to blend in and then driving behind the Museum to be undetected, James unloaded a briefcase with the fake Meteonite and handed it to Jessie.

"I'll be staying in the van to hack the Museum's security systems and give you and Meowth time to make the switch." He explained, "However, once you're in, unlike the main security system controlling the doors and cameras, I can only keep the security system protecting the case off for 20 seconds, so you're going to need to work quickly."

"Don't worry, we'll be in and out with the real deal before you know it." Jessie assured him.

As Jessie and Meowth scaled the wall to enter the Museum from the skylight, James went to work disabling the security cameras and alarms so that the two could enter the Museum undetected. Once inside, Jessie and Meowth entered the room with the Meteonite, Jessie contacted James to tell him when to turn off the case's security. With the security alarms and cameras disabled, Jessie and Meowth went to work quickly; as Jessie ran and grabbed the fake from the briefcase as Meowth jumped and removed the case, allowing Jessie to make the switch. As Meowth placed the case back down, Jessie placed the real Meteonite in the briefcase and the two left the Museum undetected.

Arriving back at the van, Jessie handed the briefcase to James, who then opened it to observe the Meteonite.

"Everything looks good. This is the real thing alright. We should leave the scene so it doesn't raise suspicion. We can contact the boss when we are at a safe distance from here." James told them as he started the engine and drove down the street.

Morning arrived quickly. The sound of a Pidove flock's soft cooing entering through the Pokémon Centre's open windows. Ash was already wide awake, he was doing some training with his Pokémon.

"Okay, Dewott and Pidove, I'm planning to use you both in my gym battle at the Nacrene Gym, so let's let a little battle practice in!" Ash said to his Pokémon, who had serious and dedicated looks on their faces. "Pikachu, will be their opponent to help improve the speed and accuracy of their attacks?" he turned and asked Pikachu, who was more than happy to assist them in their training.

"Dewott, use Razor Shell, and Pidove, Quick Attack let's go!" Ash commanded the two attacks as both Pokémon raced into action towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, stay put until I say so, 'kay?" Ash informed Pikachu, who focused on the upcoming Pokémon as they got closer and closer. "Do it, Pikachu! Jump up now!"

As their training session came to an end, all three Pokémon were soon exhausted. "Alright guys, I think we'll leave training there." Ash said, noticing how tired his team was. "How about we go get some breakfast?" he asked as all three Pokémon had now stood straight up at the mention of food, which made Ash laugh as they entered the Pokémon Centre.

Once they got inside and began making their way towards the kitchen, they soon picked up a sweet aroma that had wafted around the Pokémon Centre, which made them head towards the door. Opening the door, Ash soon caught the sound of slight humming and upon entering the kitchen, saw Dawn near the open fridge.

"Morning Dawn" Ash said lightly as he knocked on the door so he didn't startle her, which caused her soft humming to come to a sudden stop.

"Oh, good morning Ash!" Dawn replied as she held onto a jug of milk. "I was just making coffee for you, me and Cilan and was about to take it to your room for you guys for when you woke up…but looks like you've been awake for quite some time" she told Ash.

"Yeah, Cilan was still asleep when we left the room, so we've just been doing some training for our gym battle today so we didn't wake him, and we have just come in now for some breakfast." He told Dawn who handed him his coffee. "They've been working really hard, so they deserve something really special. After watching Brock, it has taught me a whole lot about cooking, so hopefully I can do just that."

As Dawn left the kitchen to see if Cilan was awake so she could give him his coffee, Ash began the preparations for breakfast. When Dawn came back to the kitchen, Ash had started to make breakfast for his Pokémon, but then decided that he would make breakfast for Dawn and Cilan's Pokémon too, as well as breakfast for him and his friends too. He soon noticed it was going to be a lot of work.

"Need some help?" Dawn asked as she tapped him on the shoulder.

"That'd be really helpful, thank you Dawn." He said happily.

Once they had finished, Ash left the kitchen a moment later to set the table and then helped Dawn bring out the plates with the breakfast on. Cilan was almost speechless when he arrived, nearly to the point of tears when he saw the effort his friends had gone to. As everyone sat down to eat, Cilan once again looked thoroughly impressed by the taste of the food.

"This is amazing!" Cilan commented, "You two are really good cooks, top notch!"

When the group and their Pokémon were finished eating, they cleared the table and headed back to their rooms to pack ready to leave. Once everyone was packed and ready to go, Cilan mentioned they should set off for the Nacrene City Museum, which confused Ash and Dawn.

The City was quiet and had a peaceful atmosphere to it. Ash and Dawn noticed that the buildings had various artistic designs on their walls. Cilan mentioned to them that Narcrene City is known as the "city of art" and that the warehouses are 100 years old and are still used today. After admiring the beauty of the city, they arrived at the Nacrene City Museum.

"So, uh, Cilan, what are we doing at the Museum?" Ash asked him, "We're supposed to be going to the gym."

Cilan turned to him, "You see Ash, not only is the Nacrene Museum a Museum, but it is also the gym." He explained.

Entering the Museum, the group saw a woman wearing an apron, and a man who was slightly smaller than her wearing a suit. The two were inspecting the numerous artefacts around the Museum. As the man looked around, he saw Ash and his friends out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes? How can we help you?" he asked.

"Oh, hi there, my name is Ash, this is my partner Pikachu and my friends Dawn and Cilan. We were looking for the gym leader so I can challenge the Nacrene gym" Ash replied to him.

"You've come to the right place, kid!" the woman said before looking to Cilan. "Well Cilan, you certainly look different, I never expected you would have gone on a journey. Sounds like you didn't tell your friends a lot about me, otherwise they would have known _I_ am the Nacrene City gym leader!" she added.

Ash and Dawn looked at Cilan, who was laughing nervously. "Oops…I suppose that might have been something worth letting you both know…" he said. "This is Lenora, the gym leader…" he added.

As the group followed Lenora and Hawes to the back of the Museum as they lead them into a rather big library. Ash and Dawn were astonished by the size of the room, and even more so by the amount of books. Cilan on the other hand was completely in his element, admiring the sight.

"So Ash, since you will be challenging me, you will need to take this challenge." Lenora told him, which got Ash worried. "You will need to find and follow clues written in these books. Only then will the path to the battle field be revealed." She explained further.

"Oh man. The thing is, I'm not the best with studying or tests…" he said, "…but that doesn't mean I won't take the challenge. A gym battle is what I came here for after all, so let's do this!"

"You really are fascinating, Ash. If I may recommend you a book, I'd suggest this one to you" she said as she tapped a book over her shoulder slightly with her knuckle. As Ash saw this, he made his way to the tapped book.

"You mean this one, right?" He asked as he pulled the book from the shelf.

As the book was removed from the shelf, the room started to quake slightly as the bookshelf moved and revealed a staircase beneath it. Ash and his friends followed Lenora and Hawes down the stairs to a huge underground battle field.

"So Ash, are you ready for the next part of the challenge?" Lenora asked Ash.

* * *

 **Frankenstrike: Ash isn't getting a Tepig or a Snivy. I'm doing it similar to how it was done in Hoenn (and how it's now done in Kalos) by giving the main characters a starter each. Besides, Snivy would suit Cilan better since he uses Grass-types, and Dawn already has Piplup, so giving her another starter of the same type wouldn't be interesting for me personally. Besides, I already have a Fire-type in mind for Ash.**

 **Magical fan18: Oops! I didn't notice that, but don't worry, it has been fixed now, so thank you very much for pointing it out!**


	7. Gym Battle Victory & Forest Friendships!

**Guest: Thank you. I honestly originally planned to make the chapters a lot longer when I started this story, but I had it in the back of my mind that making the chapters too long would bore the reader since there would be too much to read, but thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it a lot and now I know someone wouldn't mind the chapters being longer as I literally removed a huge amount of certain chapters to avoid them being too long, which was a shame. If more people would prefer longer chapters, then I would be more than happy, so might test the waters with this chapter by making it longer. Also, I'm not sure if you're the same guest who reviewed Chapter 6 twice, but in regards to Ash capturing a Pokémon of a type he currently doesn't own, I can guarantee I have that covered! P.S. You hold the record of being the one with the longest review on my story so far.**

 **A/N: I would like to apologise once more for my absence (I'm not even sure how long it has been) but we're back and thanks to a review I received, I am determined to make this story much more interesting, and to start, the chapters are going to be longer than before, so be prepared for that. Also, there will be "filler" chapters every now and then so that a bit of development can be made to the characters, and please, let me know if you prefer the chapters to be this length, or longer. Anyway, let's get one with the new-and-improved story!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7**_

With Ash now ready to begin his challenge at the Nacrene City Gym, he and Pikachu were already in position on the challenger's side of the battle field, with Lenora doing the same on the opposing side. Cilan had rushed over to the sidelines to watch the battle from a safe distance, but soon noticed that Dawn wasn't around.

Hey Ash! I can't find Dawn anywhere!" Cilan shouted over to Ash as he looked around for Dawn, but Ash just laughed as he knew what was coming next.

Suddenly, Dawn came rushing over, "Sorry guys! Needed to go and quickly change!" she shouted as she stood next to Cilan, who had a confused look on his face as to why Dawn was dressed as a cheerleader all of a sudden. Dawn noticed his confusion as she looked at him, "Oh this? I've done this a lot when Ash is in a battle, but sometimes I like to give it a break" she told him as she smiled before turning serious in preparation for the battle beginning.

Hawes then stood at the edge of the battle field, directly in the middle. "The battle at the Nacrene City Gym will now get underway! This will be a two-on-two _double battle_! The battle will be over when both Pokémon on either side are unable to continue! Are these rules understood?" to which both Ash and Lenora nodded their heads.

"Now! Send out your Pokémon!" Hawes shouted as Ash and Lenora both held two Poké Balls. Lenora didn't call out the names of her Pokémon when she threw the Poké Balls and Herdier and a taller brown Pokémon with a long tail emerged. Ash took out his Pokédex to scan the unfamiliar Pokémon.

 **Watchog, the Lookout Pokémon, and the evolved form of** **Patrat** **. Watchog's body contains luminescent compounds, which allow its eyes and stripes to glow.**

"Let's go! Dewott and Pidove! I choose you!" Ash shouted as he tossed the red and white capsules and his Pokémon emerged.

"And now! Battle begin!" Hawes announced as he raised his hand into the air, declaring the battle fit to start.

At this moment, Ash took full advantage of calling the first attacks. He commanded Dewott to rush in with Razor Shell and Pidove to strike with Quick Attack and in order to confuse the opponent, he didn't call out a specific target for either attack. As Pidove swiftly flew across the battle field, it was obvious to Lenora that Watchog was the target, and as she also carefully watched Dewott's nimble dashing she saw he was going for Watchog as well. She smiled and remained calm before making her command.

"Herdier! Get in front of Watchog and use Protect!" she ordered as Herdier jumped in front of Watchog and created a huge protective barrier in front of it, covering both it and Watchog.

The move proved to do the trick as both of Ash's Pokémon collided with the barrier and were sent rebounding off it. Ash was starting to panic now, things were getting difficult for him right from the beginning. How was he going to get past Protect? He had to take out Herdier first, or find some way of getting around it using Protect.

"Dewott, use Water Gun on Watchog and Pidove, you use Quick Attack on Watchog!" he commanded, hoping that his plan would work. "Now, go around Herdier's Protect, both of you!"

His Pokémon followed his instructions and quickly changed their directions. Both Dewott and Pidove attacked Watchog once they ran around the Protect, causing it to cry out in pain from two attacks at once.

"You're going to need to be better than that I'm afraid. Just calling attacks on the same Pokémon doesn't get you a quick win!" Lenora revealed as Watchog wasn't down just yet.

As the battle went on, both sides had taken large amounts of damage and were soon extremely exhausted. Both Ash and Lenora were equally as exhausted from the close calls their Pokémon almost had. Ash noticed that Watchog and Herdier were running slower than normal and Pidove was finding it harder to fly as not a moment later, Pidove fell to the ground.

Ash watched in absolute horror as he watched one of his Pokémon fall in defeat as he was now forced into a tricky situation that he had to overcome quickly.

"Pidove is unable to battle!" Hawes announced as Ash recalled Pidove to the Poké Ball.

"Looks like you have one more, Ash" Lenora said. "You've battled well so far, but it's almost over. I can feel it!"

With just Dewott left, Ash knew that the battle would only get tougher and tougher from here on, but he kept his spirits high as he smirked, which surprised Lenora.

"Thanks, but this battle's far from over, Lenora!" Ash replied confidently, "As long as Dewott doesn't give up, we can still win this!"

While the battle was in favour of Lenora, Ash tried his best to remain optimistic. Dawn had been cheering him on the entire battle, which helped a great deal as it helped Ash to calm down and hatch up a perfect way to claim victory.

Lenora thought she had the upper hand in the battle, and attempted to win the battle with one final attack from both her Pokémon. "Herdier use Take Down and Watchog use Low Kick!"

Ash's plan was working perfectly, he remembered his training from earlier that morning and put his plan into action. "Dewott, stay put and don't move until I say so, 'kay?" he commanded to his Pokémon, who put all of his trust into his trainer.

As Watchog and Herdier got closer and closer to Dewott, Ash quickly commanded his attack. "Do it Dewott! Run and use Razor Shell on both of them!" he shouted as Dewott charged and soon became a blur, only coming back into sight when he was inches away from the two Pokémon, he went right in between both Pokémon and hit them both with his scalchops, dealing a large amount of damage, which resulted in them both hitting the ground.

"Get up you two, you can do it! We can win this battle, just a little more!" Lenora shouted across to her Pokemon as they both got to their feet, but were clearly suffering from the attack they had taken.

"Again Dewott! Razor Shell!" Ash commanded as the Sea Otter Pokémon rapidly changed direction and headed for the two once more. Ash clenched his fists tightly as he knew this would wrap the whole battle up if the move landed. He could feel the victory getting closer and closer with every step Dewott took towards the gym leader's Pokémon.

Back on the side lines, Dawn was still cheering Ash on as Piplup had emerged from its Poké Ball to cheer everyone on too. Cilan was sitting and watching the battle in complete awe as Ash continued to get the upper hand. Even when things got turned around, he still managed to pull back and change things in favour of himself.

"Ash sure is an amazing battler, huh Dawn?" Cilan said as he turned to look up at the blue-haired girl who stopped her cheering as she looked at him before looking at Ash and then back to Cilan, to which she smiled before speaking.

"He sure is. You should've seen him back in Sinnoh, the battles were so intense that I had to step up my cheers during ever battle!" Dawn said in response, still smiling as she went back to cheering Ash on.

"Herdier AND Watchog are BOTH unable to battle! Dewott is still standing so the winner is the challenger, Ash!" Hawes announced, claiming Ash the winner of the battle.

Dewott ran over to Ash and Pikachu as they all hugged over the victory. Dawn and Cilan raced over to congratulate Ash on the victory as Lenora and Hawes approached them. Lenora reached into the pocket on her apron and pulled out a rectangle gym badge that she revealed was called the Basic Badge, and handed it to Ash, who placed it in his badge case, bringing his total up to two.

"So Ash, you have two badges now, where are you going to challenge next?" Lenora asked Ash.

Ash thought long and hard, but eventually laughed out of nervousness as he didn't know the locations in Unova. Lenora noticing this, recommended that he visit Castelia City to challenge Burgh. Cilan mentioned that Burgh visits Nacrene City from time to time. Ash and his friends left the Nacrene Museum and waved goodbye to Lenora and Hawes to set off for Castelia City.

After stopping off at the Pokémon Centre to get Ash's Pokémon healed from the gym battle, they continued their way to their next location. They had been walking around Nacrene City for around an hour, taking in as much of the scenery as they could, and soon arrived at the Pinwheel Forest. Upon entering the forest, they soon felt warm and relaxed. The forest was quiet and peaceful, and even the sound of rustling leaves blowing in the wind could be heard clearly.

"It's so warm here; peaceful too." Dawn commented as she held her arms up above her head.

"You got that right, it's an amazing place for sure." Ash said, "Hey, we should have lunch, what do you guys think?" he asked his friends as they nodded in agreement.

The group let out their Pokémon to let them eat, Dawn noticed that her Deerling and Cilan's Snivy and Pansage were happy to be out and in a warm forest. They quickly found a nice area to rest and remained there quietly, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Hey, I wonder what kinds of Pokémon there are in this forest. It sure would be a good idea for me to catch another new Pokémon before challenging the Castelia Gym."

"There are many Bug-types living here, as well as many Grass-types too. I don't think you have a Grass-type yet, Ash, so why not look for one after we eat?" Cilan recommended.

Ash removed his hoodie as he ate and put it into his backpack, as the forest's warmth made him feel too hot. Once the group had finished eating and recalled their Pokémon, they began to make their way through the forest. Ash could hear Pokémon around him, but couldn't see any. However, after walking for 10 minutes more, Ash heard the same voice again, and a small Pokémon wrapped in a leaf dropped down from a tree branch and Dawn decided to check it with the Pokédex.

 **Sewaddle, the Sewing Pokémon. Sewaddle hides from its enemies by covering its head with a hood made from a leaf, and is known to eat its leafy clothing when food is scarce.**

"It's so adorable!" Dawn screamed out at the sight of the Pokémon. "Ash, you should totally catch it!" she said.

"You think so?" Ash wondered as he looked at Sewaddle and smiled, "Alright, sounds good. Pidove, I choose you!" he said, sending Pidove out of the Poké Ball.

"Dove!" Pidove shouted, eager to battle.

Sewaddle just hung there from the tree branch, so Ash ordered Pidove to use Air Cutter, hoping to trigger a battle. An Air Cutter cut through the thread it was hanging from and a second hit it hard, which got Sewaddle annoyed as it fell. Sewaddle retaliated with a powerful Razor Leaf and String Shot combination, causing Pidove to dodge the attacks, but as it narrowly avoided Razor Leaf, String Shot hit its mark and tied Pidove up tight. After multiple times to break through the thread, Pidove began to glow blue. As she grew bigger, she managed to completely rip through the threads.

"Tranquill!" she shouted as the bright blue light subsided.

"Awesome! Pidove evolved!" Ash shouted with utter excitement before he scanned her with his Pokédex.

 **Tranquill, the Wild Pigeon Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pidove. Tranquill is always able to return to its Trainer no matter how far the distance between them.**

"Tranquill sounds really smart! And she knows a new move!" Ash said, before commanding, "Tranquill, use Steel Wing!"

Tranquill's wings began to glow white as she flew through the air before shooting downwards and slamming her wing straight into Sewaddle, knocking it into the tree directly behind. Ash, not wanting Sewaddle to take any more unnecessary damage or get injured further, threw his Poké Ball at Sewaddle to try and capture it, which proved to be successful as after the Poké Ball stopped shaking, Sewaddle was captured. Ash rushed over to pick it up and let Sewaddle out so Cilan took a look at it.

"Sewaddle will be just fine, there aren't any major injuries, but we should stop by at the Pokémon Centre when we arrive at Castelia City just to be sure." He told Ash as Sewaddle opened its eyes and looked around at the group.

Ash sat down on the ground, "Welcome to the family, Sewaddle. Let's do our best from here on out!" Ash told Sewaddle, who jumped up at Ash and sat on his hat before curling up and going to sleep.

As Ash and his friends continued through the forest Ash looked up to the sky, "hey, how much longer do you think it's going to stay light for? We should try to get through as much of the forest as we can before it gets dark." He told them.

"Maybe we should just camp out here for the night? It's such a gorgeous place and I wouldn't mind spending a little more time here. Besides, you have been getting too ahead of yourself lately with gym battles. Why don't we just slow down a bit and actually enjoy the journey?" Dawn told Ash, who in turn gave a nervous laugh at the truth he had heard from the blue haired girl and agreed he had been moving quite quickly lately.

"Okay then, that settles it, we're going to camp out here tonight and get a fresh start in the morning!" Ash announced as Cilan and Dawn agreed with him, "Hey, Dawn, how about we gather up some fruit? Can't go to bed on an empty stomach."

"Sure Ash! I'd love to…" Dawn replied happily before cutting herself off "…um, I mean, yeah, sure, sounds good to me!" she said as she smiled, making her way over to Ash.

As Ash and Dawn headed out to gather the fruit, Cilan looked over at Pikachu, "Hey, did you notice anything weird about how Dawn was acting just now?" he asked him, but just received a confused "Pika Pi?" response from Pikachu instead as he turned his head to the side, causing Cilan to laugh, "Yeah, you're right, it was probably nothing."

After 20 minutes, Cilan began to get worried as they shouldn't have been gone this long just to find some fruit. As Cilan decided on going to find them, Dawn emerged from the bushes, out of breath and shouting for Cilan. "Cilan, no time to explain, but you've got to come quickly, it's Ash!" she shouted to him as she turned around and ran off in the direction she had just come from.

"Ash? Oh no, what's happened?" Cilan shouted as he chased after her, hoping she was about to lead him to Ash's location. "Dawn, you have to tell me what went on, is Ash okay?! Come on Pikachu!" Cilan called as the yellow mouse jumped onto his shoulder.

"We were…looking for fruit when…Ash found a tree with loads of apples on it," Dawn said in between taking breaths as she ran, "He…started climbing the tree…but slipped and fell…sliding down the trunk and landing on his leg…" she said as tears had begun falling from her eyes.

"Don't worry, we're going to get to him, he's going to be fine!" Cilan assured her as she nodded and they both ran faster through the forest.

Emerging from the foliage and still running, Dawn called out, "Ash! We're here!" as her voice echoed through the forest. Dawn and Cilan eventually arrived and saw Ash sat on the ground holding onto his leg. "Ash, does it still hurt?" Dawn said as she crouched down beside him, tears still streaming from her eyes and down her face.

"Yeah…a bit…but no need to worry, I'll be fine, Dawn," he said, looking at her while smiling warmly in an attempt to get her to stop crying.

Cilan approached them both as he held his hand out to Ash. "Ash, can you stand? He asked as the boy looked up and nodded before taking Cilan's hand as he was helped to his feet. "That's it, you're doing fine, just put your arm around me and we'll get you back to the camp site." Cilan told him as he supported Ash in their journey back to the camp site.

"We're almost there, Ash, just a little more, you can do it," Dawn told Ash as she had calmed down a bit from earlier. It didn't take long for them to get back, but Ash's leg was causing him a lot of pain, so he was relieved to know it wasn't much further.

As Cilan guided Ash over to a log, he sat down to take a bit of pressure off his leg as he rolled up his jeans. Cilan reached into his backpack and took out a bandage and wrapped it around Ash's knee to help with the recovery of his injury. "You'll be as good as new in no time, Ash. Just keep the pressure off your leg for a while," Cilan informed Ash, who nodded, understanding his words.

As darkness approached them, everyone got into their sleeping bags for the night, ready for the next day of their journey to begin.


End file.
